Unforgiven
by Darkpurplelighter
Summary: Ponyboy never gets involved with the socs that night and returns home, but doesn’t forgive Darry for hitting him. Can Darry ever regain Pony’s trust? COMPLETE
1. Storm of Emotions

XXXXXX

After just being awoken by Johnny in the vacant lot, Ponyboy ran home as fast as he could, not knowing how late it was and if Darry was still awake. He definitely knew he was going to be yelled at. Pony slowly opened the front door and Darry looked up from the newspaper he was reading.

He was on his feet in a second.

"Where the heck have you been? Do you know what time it is?"

Pony shook his head wordlessly.

"Well, it's two in the morning, kiddo. Another hour and I would have had the police out after you. Where were you, Ponyboy? "Where in the almighty universe were you?"

"I fell asleep in the lot," Pony muttered while looking at the floor, knowing how stupid it sounded. He then slowly walking past his oldest brother while keeping his head down.

"You what!"

By this time Sodapop had woken up after falling asleep on the couch.

"Hey, Pony. Where you been?"

Darry however followed Ponyboy and stopped him from closing the bathroom door.

"I reckon it never occurred to you that your brothers might be worrying their heads off and afraid to call the police because something like that could get you two thrown in a boys' home so quick it'd make your head spin."

"Look, I said I didn't mean to," Pony snapped, now feeling angry and frustrated.

"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry, I didn't think! That's all I ever hear from you!" Darry's yelling echoed throughout the house.

Ponyboy could only stand there as Darry continued yelling at him for coming home late. Sodapop decided to try to calm the impending storm of emotions.

"Darry…" He pleaded.

Darry turned around and snapped at him. "Shut up! I'm sick and tired of you always sticking up for him!"

Shocked by his words, Ponyboy made a demand of his own.

"Don't you yell at him!"

After that, Darry spun around and struck Ponyboy out of anger. Ponyboy was propelled to the door by the impact. For a second no one in the room drew a breath. Darry looked down at his hand with his eyes widened and then looked back up at his youngest brother.

"Ponyboy-" He began.

But before he could say another word, Ponyboy turned around and bolted out the door.

"Pony I didn't mean to!" Darry yelled. But Ponyboy ignored him and kept running as fast as he could down the sidewalk. Ponyboy kept running until he was in a dark alley. Finally he stopped to catch his breath.

Angry, Pony kicked a trashcan as tears of frustration came down his cheeks.

Darry always got on him about everything. Never yelled at Soda about nothing. And he didn't even bother to come out after him after he ran out. He always thought that Darry didn't like him. No matter what Sodapop or Two-Bit said, and tonight proved it.

Pony leaned back against the wall. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to go home, but he didn't want to stay in the alley all night.

Finally, he decided to go back to the vacant lot to see Johnny. He was Ponyboy's best friend and he could talk to him about anything. Once he got there he saw that he was sleeping. Pony frowned but didn't want to wake him. He layed down next to Johnny and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he too was sound asleep.

XXXXXX

Waking up a couple of hours later, Ponyboy slowly turned his head to look at Johnny and saw that he was still asleep. He got up and shook the sleepiness from himself, and winced as he had a little bit of a headache.

He got up from the ground and headed home. Boy, was he going to hear it from Darry and Soda when he got back. Darry and him were probably going to end up fighting again, but he didn't want to think about it right now.

Pony's head was pounding as he made his way back to the house.

When he walked inside, he froze when he saw Darry was on the couch asleep. It caused him to let go of the screen door accidentally, causing it to slam. Darry then woke up and saw him.

Jumping up, he went to hug Pony, but he pulled away. He hadn't forgotten what Darry had done to him last night. Darry looked hurt, but he had hurt Pony and this was pay back. All the same he stayed quietly.

Walking into the kitchen, Pony saw Sodapop, Two-Bit, and Steve all sitting around the table, eating breakfast and talking. Just like Darry, Sodapop jumped to his feet when he saw Pony and hugged him. He didn't pull away from him, though.

Pony couldn't help but grin a little. Soda just had that effect on him.

"Where did you go?" Soda asked. "We've been worried sick."

"Who's 'we'?" Pony asked, genuine surprise in his voice.

Sodapop gave him a sad look and glanced at Darry, who was standing behind them. Pony didn't turn to see him, but he knew he was standing there; he could feel it.

"Don't be like that, Pony," Soda said quietly.

"What's going on?" Two-Bit asked.

Ponyboy finally turned around to see Darry close to tears.

"Why shouldn't I be? He hit me last night!" Pony shouted. "Why shouldn't I act like that Soda, huh!"

Ponyboy turned back around to face Sodapop, and the rest of the gang. Soda didn't looked shocked since he had seen it but Two-Bit and Steve did. Darry had never laid a hand on him before last night. There was a long silence before someone broke it.

"You know I didn't mean to, Pony," Darry said quietly. There was sadness in his voice; hurt. Ponyboy turned to him again, and saw tears falling down his face. "I'm sorry," he said.

"You're sorry!" Pony shouted. "YOUR'RE SORRY!"

He was angry, and frustrated. Frustrated that Darry had hit him; frustrated that Sodapop wasn't ever on his side when it came to the subject of Darry.

"Ponyboy, I didn't mean too." Darry began to plead for forgiveness. "I would never mean to hurt you or Sodapop, I just reacted."

"Oh really!" Pony snapped. "And how did you "just react" when Sodapop dropped out of school? Or when he gets parking tickets? Or when he got arrested? How did you react then? Did you yell at him? Or ground him? Or hit him? DID YOU!" Ponyboy was now screaming at the top of his lungs.

Darry looked down at the floor, he couldn't answer. Ponyboy then began to yell more. He just couldn't help it, he couldn't stop himself.

"I put up with all your crap, day in and day out! Nothing I ever do is good enough for you! And every single night I have to listen Soda tell me that you don't mean it, and I'm sick of hearing it!"

Ponyboy was literally shaking with anger as he shouted at Darry. The others could only stare wide eyed at what was going on. They didn't even know Ponyboy right now.

Darry could only stand there, not knowing how to respond. Pony breathed in deeply and pushed past Darry, walking toward the front door. He looked back at Darry one final time.

"From now on, just leave me alone. You're not my brother anymore. Stay out of my life."

Pony ran back out of the house before anyone could say anything.


	2. Revelations

XXXXXX

The rest of breakfast in the Curtis house went by in an uncomfortable silence as slowly, Steve finished and washed his plate, told Sodapop that he would see him later and walked out of the house.

However, Sodapop didn't even notice him as he was sitting on the couch, still stunned over what had just happened mere minutes ago. In his whole life, he had never seen Ponyboy act that way he did. It was like a completely different person had come home.

Darry was finishing putting food back in the refrigerator and started getting ready for work when Soda finally spoke.

"Darry...I'm sorry." Soda apologized.

His older brother turned to him.

"What for?" Darry asked, confused that he was apologizing.

"For Pony. He had no right to talk to you like that. I don't what's gotten into him. You know he isn't usually like that."

"You don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault." Darry sighed. "It's hard for him. I understand that."

"But that's no reason for him to treat you like that."

"No, it isn't. But I don't care anymore. If he wants me to stay out of his life, that's fine." Darry tried to convince himself that he meant that, put he knew deep down that he didn't.

Soda scratched his head, trying to think of a way to fix this whole situation. As much as he hated it, he was always the peace maker between the two of them.

"Darry…why don't you just take the day off?" He finally suggested. "Just wait for Pony to come home and we can all work this out."

Darry shook his head.

"I don't want to stay home. It'll just cause more problems." He responded. "I don't want to deal with Pony again today. I'm too tired and he hates me."

Soda frowned.

"He doesn't hate you, Darry."

Darry didn't respond and just walked to the bathroom and started combing his hair. He splashed some water on his face and looked up in surprise to see that Two-Bit was standing there. He didn't even know he was still here.

"Darry…I know this might not be my place, but Pony thinks _you _hate _him_." Two-Bit said.

The older boy's brows furrowed in confusion.

"When did he say that?"

"Last night. We were walking these girls back to their houses and when one of them asked what you were like he snapped. He said you couldn't stand him and thinks you would to put him in a home if Soda let you."

Darry continued to stare at him in disbelief.

"I just thought you should know." Two-Bit finished.

He nodded and closed the bathroom door, continuing to get ready for work. He then looked at himself in the mirror, the shocked look still etched on his face.

Ponyboy thought he wanted to put him in a home?

He exited the bathroom and headed to his bedroom. Sitting down on the bed, he began putting his shoes on. As he did, he began thinking back to the day Ponyboy was born.

_"Can I hold him?" The six year old Darry asked as he looked down at his new little brother. His dad smiled and nodded._

_"Sure you can…be careful of his head…." He stated, as his wife handing the baby over to him. _

_Darry nodded knowingly and expertly held onto his new brother as his parents smiled. _

He then started thinking about what Pony said to him, only a couple of minutes ago.

"You aren't my brother anymore."

Those words cut deep.

After he finished changing Darry quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started writing. He had always had trouble expressing his feelings. Maybe he could say it better in a note.

He began writing, taking his time in what he wanted to say to Ponyboy, choosing the right words.

He had never felt this bad before. The hardest thing to hear…was no longer that his parents had died. It was now somebody he loved deeply, didn't love him anymore.

Darry walked out the room and folded the note and handed it to Two-Bit.

"Look, if you see Pony today can you give him this for me?"

Two-Bit took the note from him.

"No problem."

"Thanks."


	3. Being Reasonable

XXXXXX

He continued to run until he reached the vacant lot again and sighed in frustration when he saw Johnny still asleep. Ponyboy walked over and poked him with his foot in order to wake him up.

"Hey Johnny, wake up."

Johnny stirred and rolled over, looking up at him with glazed over eyes.

"What time is it?" He asked while sitting up.

"I don't know." Pony answered honestly.

Johnny rubbed his eyes and looked over to see Pony had dropped to the ground next to him. He then noticed the look on his best friend's face and became a little worried.

"What's wrong? You look like you're about to be sick."

Ponyboy took a deep breath.

"Darry and I, we got into a fight. A bad one."

"What happened?" Johnny asked.

"He's the one who screwed up, why should I feel bad?"

"What happened?" Johnny asked again.

Ponyboy sighed. He hated telling Johnny about his problems at home because he knew Johnny's were ten times worse. He explained what happened between Darry and him last night he got home, and the words he said to Darry just a few minutes ago.

After he finished, he looked over at his best friend as he frowned.

"You need to go back home and talk things over." Johnny said.

Pony thought Johnny was being too calm about the situation.

"Talk?" Pony responded. He knew that Soda had the day off but wasn't sure if Darry did and didn't want to take the chance of running into him again today. He really didn't even know how Darry would react to his presence from now on.

"It's not like you won't see him again. You live in the same house." Johnny almost laughed.

Pony glared at him.

"Then maybe I should leave."

"Pony, don't be stupid. Where would you go?" Johnny asked.

"I have other places I could go."

"You mean Buck's?"

Pony shrugged.

"Buck wouldn't let you stay there and Darry would kill you!"

"Like I give a hang what Darry would do!" Pony yelled. "There are other places besides Buck's."

"You're being unreasonable." Johnny said.

Pony snorted back a laugh.

"So what if I am?"

Johnny stared at Pony. He couldn't believe the way he was acting. This wasn't the Ponyboy Curtis he knew. "What's wrong with you, Ponyboy?" He asked. "This isn't you."

"You don't know me!"

Johnny shook his head.

"I know that you're kind and caring. You love your brothers and friends. You read and write and watch sunsets. You used to want to help people and fix everyone's problems." Johnny shook his head again. "Now you just seem to be adding to them."

Pony stared at the ground and kicked a rock before getting up to his feet. Johnny came up right beside him and for about an hour, the two just walked around, not saying a word.

"What am I suppose to do?" Pony finally asked, breaking the silence. "I told him to stay out of my life, that he wasn't my brother anymore. He probably is never gonna speak to me again."

Ponyboy was now regretting some of things he said. He was just mad.

Johnny looked over Pony.

"I'll go with you to talk to them but you need to promise me you'll calm down."

"Okay." Pony agreed. "But I need to buy a Pepsi before we go back." He said and rubbed his forehead again. Pepsi always made him feel better, and now he was even more nervous about the idea of facing Darry then he did last night.

"Fine, let's just get going" Johnny responded.

They stopped by the DX to get a Pepsi, than continued to Pony's house.

Upon entering the house Ponyboy saw that Soda was on the telephone, his face looking as if it were chiseled from marble, cold and serious.

"I'll be right there," he said and hung up.

"I'm sorry-" Pony began but was cut off before he could finish.

"Get in the car, Pony. Darry's hurt."


	4. The Accident

XXXXXX

Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Johnny arrived at the workplace just in time to see Darry being put on a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance.

Soda pushed by everyone.

"What happened to Darry?" He asked, full of concern.

Pony and Johnny stood right next to him.

"He fell off the roof." One of Darry's workmates answered.

Pony looked at the guy, his eyes stricken with fear.

"Is he alright?"

"Don't know son." He replied. "Hopefully he'll be okay."

"Come on, we have to get to the hospital." Soda said.

The three of them hurried back to the car and after a few minutes of driving they arrived at the hospital. Soda, now with tears coming down his cheeks walked up to a nurse.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes, I need to find Darrel Curtis! He was in an accident."

"Ah yes, follow me." The nurse said and took Soda, Pony, and Johnny to where Darry was. "You can't go in yet, but wait here. Someone will be out to tell you how he's doing."

Soda nodded, and then looked over and saw that Pony walked toward the window of the room Darry was being operated on.

"Pony, come here." Soda pulled Pony away a led him to a chair.

"Soda." Pony managed to say as tears were now coming to his eyes as he realized something. "The last thing I said to him was that we aren't brothers anymore. He can't…"

He then trailed off as he didn't want to say what he was thinking. Soda then pulled him into a hug.

"Don't think like that, he's going to be fine." He assured. Soda then looked over at Johnny.

"Johnny, can you call the others and tell them to get over here?" He asked.

Johnny nodded and left to search for a phone. As soon as he found one, he called up Two-Bit.

"Two-Bit? Can you find the others and come to the hospital, now."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Just…come. I'll explain everything, or what I know when you get here."

It took about twenty minutes, but the rest of the gang arrived at the hospital desperately searching for Johnny. When they found him, Two-Bit asked, "What's wrong Johnny? What happened?"

Johnny shrugged. "I don't know, they haven't told us anything. But, it's… Darry. He got hurt at work."

After hearing that, Steve walked over to Sodapop and saw how hard he was taking this.

"He'll be okay, Soda." He said while patting his shoulder.

He then looked over to Ponyboy sitting in on the chairs and glared at him. Slowly, he walked over to him and stood in front of him. Ponyboy looked up, realizing there was someone there.

"What do you want?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"I hope you're happy." Steve said, remembering what happened between Pony and Darry this morning.

Ponyboy put his head back in his hands.

"Didn't you get what you wanted?" Steve continued.

"I didn't mean it..." Pony trailed off, realizing it sounded stupid.

"You didn't mean it? It sure sounded like you did."

"Steve, please." Pony just wanted to be left alone.

"He probably got hurt because of you." Steve stated, keeping his voice low.

"Leave me alone!" Pony yelled at Steve.

Johnny came over to them. "What's goin' on?" He asked, concerned about Pony.

"Nothing." Pony said, tears streaming down his cheeks, his face red with anger, embarrassment and pain.

It was obvious Steve didn't want to listen to anything he had to say. He'd made up his mind and he wouldn't listen to him.

"You're just a-" Steve continued but was interrupted by Pony's fist flying into the side of his jaw. He fell to the ground from the force of the blow and clutched at his mouth.

Steve jumped up to his feet and looked like he was about to hit Pony back but he was grabbed from behind.

"The two of you, stop!" Two-Bit screamed out of nowhere. He then turned to Steve.

"He's in no mood to deal with you right now. Leave him alone or I'll beat the tar out of you." Two-Bit ordered.

"Is that a threat?" Steve asked.

"It's whatever you want to be."

Steve nodded.

"Fine." And walked back over to Soda.

After a few more minutes a doctor finally came out and said, "People for Darrel Curtis?"

Soda and Pony turned to face him and said, "Here!"

"Mr. Curtis has several broken ribs. He has also suffered some kind of head injury, I suspect a concussion, although I will not be sure until he awakes."

"But he's okay, right?" Soda asked.

"He might have to stay here for a few days, but I'm sure he'll be fine."

The gang breathed a sigh of relief as the doctor left the room.

Two-Bit looked over at Ponyboy, noticing he still looked sad and shook his shoulder.

"He's okay, Pony."

Ponyboy didn't answer, worried how true that statement was. He may have been okay, but Pony wasn't sure if _they_ were okay. He still wasn't sure how things would be between the two of them.


	5. Better Times

XXXXXX

After the doctor left, the gang all walked into Darry's room, Ponyboy being the last one behind them all, worried how Darry was going to react to him. He sighed in relief when he saw that he was sleeping and went over to sit down next to his bed, feeling slightly guilty.

'I'm sorry Darry. I wish I could switch places with you right now.' Ponyboy thought to himself.

He sighed and put his head in his hands and started thinking about better days, before his parents died, before the fight he had with Darry the other night, and the horrible things he had said to him just this morning.

_Dally's team groaned while Darry's team cheered after they scored another touchdown._

_Darry's team was Ponyboy, Two-Bit and Johnny, leaving Dally with Sodapop and Steve for the other team._

_The game went on for a long time, Dally was whispering franticly to his team, and Darry was trying to think of the best plan for scoring this last touchdown. If they scored, they would win._

_Darry whispered to Ponyboy. "I think you should run it in. By yourself. Two-Bit can cover Steve, Johnny can cover Soda."_

_Johnny gulped dramatically and they all burst out laughing._

_"I'll try to keep Dally back." Darry said to Ponyboy. "After I throw you the ball."_

"_Nah. Let Dally try to catch me." Pony grinned and they all walked to position and got ready._

"_Five. Twenty-four. Eighty-one. Five-hundred and nineteen…" Darry's team began to laugh, as Darry went on naming numbers. Dally stood up, looking annoyed. _

"_Hurry up! That's a __del-__"_

"_HIKE!" Darry yelled and his team set to work. _

_Darry started to run, but soon Soda was standing in front of him, knees bent, ready to spring and chased him down. _

"_Soda!" Dally looked angry. "I know you run faster than that! Tackle him!"_

_With the command, Soda sprang and grabbed Darry's feet, making him fall but not before he was able to throw the ball to Ponyboy. _

_Two-Bit blocked Steve for enough time to let Pony around with the ball. Ponyboy was running, faster than he ever had in his life, looking at the end ground. Dally was close behind._

_Ponyboy made it into the end zone, winning the game._

_However, that didn't stop Dally from tackling him, knocking the ball out of his hands, wrestling with him. Both boys wrestled for dominance for a few seconds as the rest of the gang laughed. _

After about a half an hour, everyone was starting to get restless and decided to leave.

Pony sniffed. "Soda, we need to go get some stuff for Darry."

Soda nodded in agreement. "We'll bring some stuff later"

Ponyboy looked back at Darry one last time before he and Soda exited the room.

Later that evening, Sodapop and Ponyboy finished having dinner and Soda started gathering things for Darry.

As Soda continued Pony observed him and noticed how exhausted he looked. Pony imagined that he didn't get much sleep the previous night and he had to go to work tomorrow.

As Soda went into the bathroom, Two-Bit walked through the front door.

"Hey, Two-Bit can you take me to the hospital?" Pony asked.

"Sure kiddo."

Pony grabbed the bag for Darry as Soda came out of the bathroom and saw the two of them about to leave.

"Whoa, what are you doing?"

"Two-Bit's going to take me. Just stay here and get some sleep. I'm going to stay at the hospital tonight." Ponyboy said.

Soda looked at his brother with a hard stare. "No. Come on, buddy. It's no good to keep beating yourself up over this."

Ponyboy shook his head.

"No, Soda, I want to stay there." He said firmly. "Just in case he wakes up during the night. You have to go to work so you can't do it. Someone can get me tomorrow."

"Alright." Soda finally agreed, he was too tired to continuing arguing. Especially an argument he was not going to win.


	6. Apologies

XXXXXX

After Two-Bit dropped him off at the hospital, Ponyboy walked into Darry's room to see that he was still asleep. He was nervous of what would happen when Darry woke up. Would Darry forgive for what he said? Would he even want to talk to him again?

Pony sat down on the chair and opened the bag he brought for Darry and took out a magazine.

"Hey Pony." A voice said quietly.

Ponyboy looked up and saw Two-Bit enter the room.

"Two-Bit? What are you still doing here?" Pony asked.

"I forgot to give you something." Two-Bit dug in his pocket and handed him the note Darry asked him to give to Pony. "Here."

"What is this?" Pony asked.

"A note." Two-Bit said as he walked out of the room.

"You don't say." Ponyboy muttered sarcastically and placed the note on the little table in front of him.

After getting done with the last magazine, he looked at the note and curiosity got the better of him.

He picked it up, unfolded it and began reading.

_Ponyboy,_

_I asked Two-Bit to give you this note when he saw you again. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I truly never meant to hurt you or ever make you think I care more about Sodapop._

_I know that since Mom and Dad died you and I have not always seen eye to eye. I've always tried my best to show you how much I appreciate you and to be honest, sometimes I fail. You need to remember that I'm human though. _

_I love you and I'm so proud of you. More than you could ever know. _

_Darry._

Pony got through reading Darry's handiwork and tears slipped from his eyes. He had an aching feeling of guilt in his stomach as well as a sense of pride.

Darry was proud of him.

That's what Ponyboy wanted more than anything.

A nurse walked in and said, "Sir, visiting hours are over. Unless you're family...?" The nurse trailed off.

Ponyboy quickly wiped away his tears and nodded.

"Yes, I am."

XXXXXX

Ponyboy woke up during the night after falling asleep in the chair. He then turned his attention back to Darry. In sighed when he saw he wasn't awake yet. Now he wasn't scared about facing Darry. He just wanted to tell him that he was sorry.

In order to escape the eerie silence of the room, Ponyboy began telling stories about his childhood, and some memories about the gang. After a few minutes, someone other than Pony spoke;

"You should really write that stuff down. Could be a best seller."

"Darry!" Pony exclaimed.

"Not too loud, please." Darry softly replied.

Pony almost cried and threw himself at his brother in relief but restrained himself.

"Sorry. You scared the daylights of out of me!"

"Where am I?"

"The hospital. I'll tell you everything later. I'm guessing you still don't feel so good."

"But I'm alive to feel it, so I can't complain."

"I have to get the doctor, he wanted me to let him know when you woke up."

Pony went to get the doctor and went back to Darry.

"It's going to be okay now," Pony said.

"I hope you're right."

"Darry, how are you feeling?" The doctor asked when he came into the room.

"Horrible," Darry answered.

"Ponyboy, will you please give us a few minutes? I need to reexamine Darry," The doctor asked.

"I'll be right outside," Pony answered.

In the hallway, Ponyboy noticed the nurse walking toward him.

"I heard from the doctor that our patient is awake." The nurse said.

"Yeah." Pony grinned happily.

The nurse smiled at Ponyboy, then turned away. Pony leaned against the wall, trying to remain patient while waiting for the doctor to let him back in. The doctor called a while later, telling him he could come back in. Pony saw Darry sitting up with the doctor by a machine.

"And?" Pony asked, his impatience getting the best of him.

"He should stay here for a few days and take some time off work. He needs to finish healing, and recover his strength. But I see no serious problems, he should be fine." The doctor said.

"That's great." Darry said.

The doctor got up and walked out of the room to leave the two alone. Pony immediately felt awkward and stared at the floor.

"Darry…" He said quietly. "About what I said-"

"Forget about it." Darry cut in.

"I'm sorry." Pony said.

"Me too."

After a few seconds of silence Ponyboy walked over and threw his arms around Darry's neck.

Darry laughed slightly and returned the hug, ruffling Ponyboy's hair.


	7. Broken Glass

XXXXXX

Two weeks had gone by since Darry's accident and he was now back home and things had gone back to normal. Darry was standing by the stove, finishing cooking breakfast when a voice suddenly got his attention.

"Hey Darry."

Ponyboy stood at the door of the kitchen.

He was going to wait for Sodapop to wake up, but his stomach had other ideas. Smelling the aroma of French toast, this early in the morning, was too hard to resist.

Darry turned from the stove and signaled Ponyboy over to sit down at the kitchen table.

"It's ready," he said as Pony sat down and watched Darry fill the plates. Darry then sat down the food and got the chocolate milk out from the refrigerator.

Before Darry could even sit the glasses down, Pony had begun eating and before he knew it he had finished everything on his plate. He didn't realize he had been that hungry.

"I don't think I've ever seen you clear your plate that fast," Darry grinned.

Ponyboy smiled a little as he took a sip from his milk.

"Well, it was really good. And I was starving."

It wasn't long before Darry finished up as well and picked up the plates, taking them over to the sink. Pony followed, taking a seat on top of the counter. He picked up a nearby dish towel and dried off the dishes as Darry handed each one to him.

Once the assembly line of dishes began running smoothly, Pony hesitantly started the conversation he came to have with Darry in the first place. "Um, Darry can I ask you something?"

Darry looked over at his youngest brother, hiding his surprise.

"Yeah, go ahead." He looked at him, wondering why he was so nervous.

"I wanted to ask you…" Pony stared at the floor and began to spill it all at once, to nervous to hesitate any further. "Since you're off today and Soda has to work and Johnny is doing something with Dally, I wanted to go…but I didn't want to go alone…"

Darry raised his hand to stop Pony.

"Hey, slow down little buddy, I didn't even understand half of what you just said. Now, speak clearly and tell me again."

Pony sighed and looked down at the floor.

"I don't want to go to the movies alone. Want to go with me?" He finally asked.

Darry was surprised that Pony was asking him, he really didn't know how to respond. He didn't really like movies, but it was a chance for just Ponyboy and him to hang out with each other for a change. Darry was so caught up in trying to think of something to say, that he didn't feel the glass he was washing slipping from his hand.

He was brought to his senses when the glass hit the floor and shattered into small shards.

"Damn it!" He pushed his thoughts about the movies away temporarily and went to retrieve the dustpan to clean up the glass. He went to grab the broom, but it wasn't in its normal place.

Noticing he was looking for the broom Ponyboy took on the hunt as well. As soon as the glass was cleaned up they could go back to talking about the movies. Seeing the broom leaning against the door of the cubbert he jumped down off the counter to retrieve it.

"Pony, don't..." Darry cringed when his warning came too late.

In his effort to help Darry he forgot all about the reason they were looking for the broom in the first place. Pony jumped down on the glass covered floor with bare feet and one shard went right into the ball of his foot.

"Shit!" He jumped back up on the counter and turned his leg so he could look at the glass in his foot.

Darry rushed over when he heard Pony's curse. He looked at the tiny cut on Pony's foot and shook his head in annoyance.

"You'll live."

"But it hurts!" Ponyboy playfully whined.

Darry swept up the glass and threw it in the trash can.

"Well you should have thought about that before you tried walking on glass." He sat broom and dustpan down on the table and grabbed the small first aid kit from underneath the sink. Then, walking over to Ponyboy, he ducked and threw him over his shoulder.

"Hey, what are you…put me down!" Ponyboy struggled against Darry and yelped when he was thrown backwards onto the couch.

"I figured you wouldn't be able to walk with that huge piece of glass in your foot. You're lucky it wasn't cut off!" Darry said sarcastically.

He took a seat on the recliner and pulled it in front of the couch and sat Pony's injured foot on his lap. He flipped open the first aid kid and grabbed the tweezers, holding them up so Pony could see them.

"I don't know if this will work. We may need to take you to the emergency room."

Ponyboy kicked Darry with his free foot while making a face at him.

"Just shut up and get it out. It really does sting!" Pony put as much whine as he could muster in the last sentence. It really didn't hurt at all, but it was fun to play along.

"Just sit still and I'll get it out."

Darry easily removed the small shard in about a second and dropped it into the nearby ashtray. He dropped the tweezers back in the first aid kit, and wiped off the tiny bit of blood off his foot. After that was gone, you couldn't even see the cut anymore.

Darry then brushed his thumb over the ball of Ponyboy's foot, just to make sure he got all of the glass.

"No stop!" He yelled, trying to pull his foot away.

Darry looked up at Ponyboy, startled at first, thinking he had done something that hurt him.

Then he noticed what the real problem was.

He brushed his finger across Ponyboy's foot again and got the same reaction from Pony followed by a muffled giggle. Darry smirked evilly as Ponyboy yelped and tried to pull his foot away.

Ponyboy's attempts were quickly dissolved when Darry began tickling his foot without mercy. He pleaded between uncontrollable laughter. "No!...Stop!...Darry!" Darry began tickling the sole up and down. It was total torture. Ponyboy started laughing and thrashing, wildly. It took all of Darry's strength to hold his ankle.

Ponyboy gasped and laughed again, throwing his head back, arching his back as Darry sped up the tickling.

Darry laughed as Ponyboy kicked and pulled trying to get his foot away. Pony could take on Socs but he was easily rendered helpless by this.

Ponyboy kicked harder trying to get away. He was laughing so hard tears began to form in his eyes. Darry gave Ponyboy an evil look when he managed to catch Pony's other foot in his attempt to kick himself free.

"Now what are you gonna do?"

Ponyboy then twisted over so he was on his stomach. Darry took the opportunity to his advantage. He turned his body around so that he was sitting on his lower back, facing his feet; and continued tickling him.

By this time, Soda had come out of his room hearing Ponyboy laugh and could only smile at the scene.

"You give up?" Darry asked.

Ponyboy tried moving his feet, tried twisting them around but he couldn't escape. The feather light touches of Darry's fingers dancing over his bare feet were unbearable, and he was helpless against it.

"Yes! Yes! I give up! Uncle!" Pony finally shouted.

And just like that, Darry stopped, letting go of Ponyboy's feet. Pony slumped, his head hitting the couch with a soft 'thump' as Darry got up and went back to the kitchen.

After a few minutes, Pony managed to get his breath back.

"So are you coming?" He asked.

Darry sighed.

"If you want me to go, I'll go."

Pony smiled at Darry.

"Come on, you can help me to my room. I can't walk."

Darry snorted, but helped Pony up anyway. All he could think is how interesting this trip to the movies this was going to be.

The End.


End file.
